Ms Huma Abedin, the loyal aide who is often seen at the side of US presidential nominee, may have inadvertently derailed her boss' presidential bid - due to the indiscretions of her estranged husband.

Former congressman Anthony Weiner's life came crashing down in 2011 when an explicit photo of his crotch was tweeted from his Twitter account, and he admitted after an initial denial that is it was his. From there, it was revealed that he had been exchanged lewd text with women online, resulting in him resigning from Congress.

Ms Abedin, 40, who has been described as a "shadow" of Mrs Clinton and "mini Hillary", stood by her man at the time - just like Mrs Clinton stood by her man Bill Clinton when news of his indiscretions was revealed.

Ms Abedin started working for Mrs Clinton in 1996 as an intern, according to Vanity Fair.

She has continued to serve as Mrs Clinton's travelling chief of staff, senior adviser, and was deputy chief of staff when Mrs Clinton was secretary of state. Ms Abedin is now the vice-chairman of the Clinton campaign.

But her loyalty to her husband may have cost Ms Abedin, as he didn't stop his racy online life.

A series of scandals followed Mr Weiner, 52, all connected to his sexts to women online, that derailed his comeback in politics in a bid to run for New York mayor.

All the while, Ms Abedin stood by him.

That changed in August, when Mr Weiner sent a photo of his crotch to a woman online. In the photo, the couple's four-year-old son can be seen sleeping next to him.

Ms Abedin decided to leave her husband, and continued on the campaign trail with Mrs Clinton.

But the revelations continued - last month (September), Mr Weiner was found to have exchanged illicit texts with a 15-year-old girl. If found guilty of charges of sexual exploitation of children, he could get up to 30 years' jail.

And in the resulting probe of Mr Weiner's computer, the FBI has said it has found e-mails from Ms Abedin, related to the previously closed case on Mrs Clinton's use of private e-mail servers when she was secretary of state.

If this new probe affects Mrs Clinton's presidential bid, it will all be due to a married man who could not stop his lascivious contact with other women online.

Sources: The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Daily Mail, The Independent

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